


Into the Warm

by Markov_Debris



Series: Company Series [19]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Episode: s02e10 From Out of the Rain, M/M, Spoilers for Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 07:57:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Markov_Debris/pseuds/Markov_Debris
Summary: Ianto heads home after the Night Travellers case and Jack decided it’s time he looked after his man.





	Into the Warm

**Author's Note:**

> This story can be read as a stand alone story or as part of my Company/Awaiting Universe Series.

As Ianto Jones handed Jack the Ghost Maker’s flask their eyes met.  The Immortal could see ‘Do Not Touch’ written in the Welshman’s eyes and made no move to follow him.

The Archivist was taking this case hard.  It wasn’t just his sense of failure to save all but one.  It was more than the tarnish it added to a fond childhood memory.

Ianto had sympathised with the Ghost Maker and his friends.  In the Cinema before this case truly began he had been touched by their plight.

They had gouged into that sympathy by first taking innocents for their audience, then trying to kill them.  Having worked towards the solution helped, but it would take a while for that consolation to penetrate.

Jack was going to see to it that the boy who survived was going to be taken care of.  Ianto, he knew had arranged for him to be taken to Powell House while the authorities waited for his aunt to arrive from abroad.

In Powell House, where the orphans of Torchwood employees and those left behind by Torchwood’s failures lived, he would find support from the other children.  There, even for a short time, he could make friends to keep in contact with, even in Carlisle, whenever he needed them.

The Immortal heard the sound of the Cogwheel door and knew that Ianto had gone home.  He felt useless as he crossed his office to lock the flask securely away.

As Jack put it inside he heard the ghostly echo of circus music throughout the Hub.  He shut the door and locked it, hoping that it would be enough, that even if another film existed elsewhere the Ghost Maker would not be able to take another audience.

The Hub seemed to echo and felt cold.  He couldn’t go after Ianto, the Welshman liked to think things through find his answers, he had learnt to heal himself alone.

That didn’t seem fair to Jack.  Whenever he had an awful case, failed or worse, made a mistake, the Welshman always knew exactly what he needed; now Ianto was suffering and he couldn’t return the favour, he was shut out.

What was the point of having a dashing, handsome ex-Time Agent for a boyfriend if you didn’t look to him for comfort?  Jack was very good at comfort.

It hurt him to think that, perhaps Ianto felt the point was more that dashing, handsome, ex-Time Agents should have hot sexy Welsh Archivists for a boyfriend so that he could be the Captain’s comforter.

The whole point of this relationship was that it went both ways.  Okay he was still learning but that should mean that if Ianto needed someone, it was supposed to be him not no one at all.

Captain Jack Harkness liked to learn from the best, right now the best needed him to be his equal.

_Ianto Jones you can be hard work sometimes, but one second of hard work for you is worth a thousand easy seconds from any other lover._

Jack grabbed his coat and headed out.  He stopped by Ianto’s favourite chip shop.  He wasn’t that fond of the British delicacy, but chicken and chips was the Welshman’s secret comfort food.

He raced the SUV to the Welshman’s house and ran the bell.  As soon as Ianto opened the door he held up the bag out as an offering.

“I brought supper,” Jack said and shouldered his way past giving his lover a kiss on the cheek.

He grabbed some plates and began to serve up the hot food.  He brought it into the dining area with a selection of condiments and cutlery.

“Thank you,” Ianto said quietly as he sat down by his dinner and began to pick at it.

“You did a good job.  You helped figured it all out, saved Gwen and you did your best to stop the Ghost Maker,” Jack said quietly as his offering remained mostly untouched.

“My best wasn’t good enough.  I only saved one, his family, David’s parents, lost by me” Ianto said not looking at Jack, not wanting to see if the Immortal’s words were a lied and that he really was a failure.

“Sometimes you can only save one.  It is better to try and only save one then to not bother at all and let them all perish.

“We’re human Ianto, we’re flawed.  We can strive to better ourselves but the best is all we can give. 

“Your mediocre level effort would be better than many people’s best.  You never give me mediocre you always push yourself to give me more.

“I failed you Ianto.  I should have been quicker at following you, should have filmed the Ghost Maker earlier, destroyed him before he could act,” Jack said looking his supper gloomily.

“No,” Ianto protested resting a hand on Jack’s.

The Immortal looked at him.  It was the reaction he was expecting, the desire to give comfort overwhelming the young man’s own need for it.

Their eyes met and Jack hoped the Welshman would see the caring, the compassion he felt.  Ianto brushed his thumb over the back of the Immortal’s hand to show the message was understood.

Ianto began to eat his chicken and chips properly.  It was Jack’s blackmail, he didn’t want to let his boyfriend down by refusing his attempts at giving him comfort, but the Immortal didn’t care.

Jack finished first and dashed off to begin running Ianto a bath.  He returned as the Welshman was clearing the dishes away.

Firmly he sat his lover down with a quick kiss and took the plates from him.  Jack then began to tackle his not so secret domestic nemesis, the washing up.

By the time he finished he couldn’t have been more drenched if he’d laid down in the Welshman’s bath.  The good thing about it, to Jack, was that it brought a small, brief smile to Ianto’s face.

The young man insisted on getting Jack a fresh t-shirt before going into the bathroom.  The Immortal undressed his lover and helped him in the tub.

He then went to the bathroom cabinet where Ianto kept his bathroom books and selected a nice detective novel.  Jack read aloud and watched as his lover relaxed in the water.

When the water turned cold and the Welshman began to prune Jack stopped and helped him out the bath.  The Immortal took pleasure in drying Ianto off and dressing him in pyjamas.

If Jack had been the one in need of comfort they would have had sex.  Ianto though needed to sort things out in his mind and his body wouldn’t have co-operated.

When the Welshman was put to bed, Jack sat next to him and began to read again.  The Immortal couldn’t distract the body, but he could distract the mind with the book’s word over riding Ianto’s thoughts.

Jack didn’t stop reading until he knew Ianto was asleep.  Unlike other nights when he had left the Welshman’s side to work, tonight he knew it was more important to stay.

He watched over his lover as he slept and chased away bad dreams before they could start.  Ianto looked so vulnerable but tonight he had Jack to guard him.

He slipped from his lover’s side just before his usual time to wake.  Jack headed for the kitchen and returned with breakfast in time for Ianto to start stirring.

Jack insisted that Ianto have his shower first.  He was intent on getting the washing up done before the young man could do it.

He didn’t want to embarrass himself by getting soaked again so he stripped off and began to work in the nude.  His hope was dashed when he finished and turned to see the Welshman, fully dressed, looking at him with a slightly amused expression.

Jack gave Ianto a kiss and sauntered past him towards the bathroom as though he had done nothing wrong.  He was soon showered, dressed and driving them both to the Hub,

Ianto gave him signs that his efforts had been appreciated all day.  His favourite biscuits with his morning coffee, his favourite pizza for lunch and donuts with his afternoon coffee.

With a look, Ianto invited him home after work, persuaded him to go food shopping which in turn inspired Jack to cook pasta for them.  After dinner they stripped off, huddled under blankets on the sofa while the Immortal read more of the book.

It wasn’t until the Welshman got up and Jack had a good view of his shapely arse that he realised that he was giving Ianto physical comfort, just not the sort he was used to giving.

He still had thoughts to work through but he was no longer trying to sort them out alone.  He was letting Jack in beside him, taking comfort in his presence, his patience, until Ianto was ready to give back again.

The nakedness was a gift, a thank you, a reward for giving him what he needed, for being there and for not pushing.  Jack wondered if Ianto loved the feel of his skin against him as much as the Immortal did.

As the Welshman put down the glass of water he had gotten Jack, kissed him and slipped back into the blankets the Immortal realised that this was exactly what he had wanted when he decided to follow Ianto last night.

Jack sipped his water and Ianto snuggled closer.  The Immortal wasn’t sure how long his lover needed to think, needed to prepare himself to continue, but it didn’t matter and he already knew which book to read next.

 

Fin

 


End file.
